Putting the Social in Media

Social Media is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you can use it to connect with your friends and family. To share what’s happening in your life, especially with long distance relatives. On the other hand, it is a fertile land for stalkers and hackers to gather your personal information and use them to attack you.

You can promote your business and increase brand awareness on social media. You can do few things to increase your reach and influence using social media, but first, before you even push the “Publish” button. You must be sure of why you are publishing.

Let me clarify, every post you make must have a clear purpose. Don’t post for the sake of it. It helps to have goals that are backed by a philosophy. Ask yourself, will this post help me reach or influence those who read it? Is it valuable for the consumer?

Let’s delve deeper into what makes a solid strategy for enhancing social media engagement.

Building Content

Posting is one side of the story. When you know what your aims from posting on social media and what you are doing here. You have to choose who will consume your awesome content. Friends? Clients? Either for business or personal use, you have to know your target audience, the people you aim to influence.

Great. You now know who are your primary readers; it is time to post. Content can be anything, from a short tweet to a 10 minutes’ video. Probably the best use of social media I’ve seen for a local company is CheckMaid, who’s social media profiles are always very engaging with fans and clients. Anything you post is content. However, content is not enough to engage people. It will be useless if you do not,

Open the Door for Them.

Go to them so they can come to you. The whole point is to be yourself. How? For example, you have a Facebook Page, you regularly post excellent content, but no one seems to visit you. What are you doing wrong? Find your missing ingredient. The most common mistake is putting your goods out there and wait for consumers to gather around you.

If you upload your content and do nothing afterward. How will people even know that your Page exist? You should go to every Page similar to yours and like, share, and comment. Comments and replies should be the majority of what you post on social. Share your experiences and let your personality shine. In one week or less, you will notice that your Page is gaining traction.

What If That Is Not the Case?

If you go out and expose yourself to the world, and still see no progress. There are two main reasons. A) You are not adding any value. B) You are barking at the wrong tree. It happens. In the first case, you need to take a break, and educate yourself about the subject. In the second case, revise the reason of why you are doing it what you are doing. What is your real passion? What you know best than anybody else? That is your tree.

Try Again!

Sorry, nobody said it is going to be easy, but practice makes perfect. If after everything is said and done. You still see no progress, consider switching networks. From the beginning, you have to choose the right platform. Everyone is on Facebook, but is your ideal client there too? Seek where is the real party. Speak a language that your audience can understand.

Greed is good when it comes to social. On social, less is more. Give 100%, but be selective about what you post. To receive, you must give. The more you give, the more you will receive.

I see you are smiling; it means you understand. Keep reading. Here is a tip. Use analytics; analytics is your friend. If you have little engagement, it is enough to observe how your audience engages with your content, what they like, and what they wish to see less.

Get inside their heads. Here is another tip, posts with pictures drive more engagement. Posts with videos drive more and more engagement. Find out what they want, if your audience does not like pictures, don’t post them. It is not about you; it is all about them.

Build a Community, Not an Audience

Do you like spam? I guess not most of the time. You are just a person, a human being or business. Guess what? Your audience is made up of individuals, with hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Just like you.

If you spam your people about yourself and your products, they will go and find somebody less spammy. The secret of a successful social media strategy, is you aim to educate people and build a community. A cult, if you will. Creating this sense of value, and leadership is what makes great companies. If you would pick a name for your audience what would you choose? Hint: It is not peasants!

Building communities take time, but it is worth it. You should aim for loyalty first. Not:

NUMBERS.

Results is the pillar of a successful social media strategy. Ask yourself, do I want numbers to impress my friends, or to reflect my originality? Followers and likes are dime a dozen, but engagement is not that cheap.

Numbers are earned, not bought. Each number must matter to you; each number means that there is a human being who wants to hear what you have to say. Do not water down your efforts. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

Have a strong reason for posting. Go as far as creating a unique culture that distinguishes you. It is known that the world is at your fingertips. You do not need to engage the whole world; you just need to engage your world. It is SOCIAL Media, not personal media. Set goals, and achieve them. Know when to quit. Enjoy the ride. Be concise and to the point.